To Desire and Deserve
by DarcyFan1
Summary: This is the third and final installment of my P&P series. You will follow our dear couples as well as meet some new ones. If you enjoyed the other two, I hope you stick with me through this one as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Dear all,**

 **Hello. Its been a long time since I have posted. I know many of you have been waiting for the third installment. I am very grateful for your patience and for sticking with me and sending me messages. I know this is a very short chapter, but I promise more will be posted soon. But I need to hear from you guys. Let me know what you think.**

 **Love,**

 **P.**

Chapter 1

Lord Avery stood at the window of the grand study, surveying the beautiful lawn that led to the woods and the prosperous farmlands that spread far beyond it. It was all his now. He was the new master of Avery Court, having inherited his maternal grandfather's title and estate nearly six months ago. The transition had been an easy one, as his grandfather, being the capable master that he was, had left everything in proper order. And Lord Avery, quite like his grandfather was a competent man of excellent sense. In the short weeks since his arrival at Avery Court, he had met with his steward on a daily basis, had visited the farmlands and stocks and had met with all his farmers and staff at the manor. He had gone over the books and checked the accounts and made sure that everything was well in hand.

The staff at the manor were pleasantly surprised by their new master. Not having seen the young man for many years, they were quite taken aback when he arrived one afternoon in his impressive carriage. His extensive wardrobe and the large number of horses and carriages that arrived later that week assured the staff that the new master was used to a lavish lifestyle. However, when they saw the tall and impressively attired young master working tirelessly for many weeks to familiarize himself with his new duties, they were ready to change their opinion of him and soon held him in the highest of respects.

"I beg your pardon, my lord," said the old butler as he bowed to his master.

"What is it, Steels?" Lord Avery asked.

"Mr. Darcy is here to see you, sir."

"Very good, Steels," his lordship smiled and nodded his permission for the old butler to invite the gentleman inside.

"Mr. Darcy, sir," Steels announced as he open the door wider and stepped aside and allowed the gentleman to enter the study.

"Darcy!" Lord Avery exclaimed as he walked toward his old friend. "How good of you to call on me so soon. I knew I could count on you to come."

"How are you, Avery?" Mr. Darcy shook his lordship's proffered hand. "I am sorry we were away from Pemberley when you visited last week. We were in Hertfordshire, visiting my wife's family. We returned yesterday and when I saw your card, I could not wait to come and see you."

"It is so good to see you," his lordship invited his friend to sit down as he poured drinks for them both. "Is your wife well? And your son?"

"They are both well, thank you," Mr. Darcy smiled proudly. "Mrs. Darcy is very desirous to meet you. She has heard so much about you, she is looking forward to making your acquaintance."

"I hope your reports of me have been kind, Darcy," Lord Avery smiled mischeivously. "I would not want your wife to have a poor opinion of me already."

"My reports of you have been fair, Avery," Mr. Darcy smiled in return. "And believe me, my wife makes her own opinions. Despite my best efforts, I have no influence over her."

"Poor Darcy," Lord Avery laughed. "But you do seem quite happy."

"I am," Mr. Darcy's smile grew deeper. "Especially as we are soon to be blessed with another child."

"Congratulations, my friend," Lord Avery extended the drink to Mr. Darcy. "I would be envious of you if I did not know how worthy you are. I am so very happy for you."

"Thank you, Avery," Mr. Darcy nodded.

"And how is sweet Georgiana?" Lord Avery asked. "Or perhaps I should not call her with such familiarity now that she is no longer a little girl. Perhaps I should refer to her as Miss Darcy now."

"No," Mr. Darcy smiled. "She is no longer a little girl. And you should not call her Miss Darcy either. For she is Lady Paisley now."

"Lady Paisley?" Lord Avery raised both eyebrows. "Do you mean she has married the Marquis of Dartford?"

"Indeed," Mr. Darcy nodded. "They were married four months ago. I take it that you have not received my last letter with news of Georgiana's marriage. Nor have you seen it in the papers, it seems."

"I was aboard a large, uncomfortable vessel for many weeks before I reached England," Lord Avery explained. "And since then I have been travelling a little, taking care of a few matters before I could come here and take over the estate. I have not received any letter from you or anyone else for a while now."

"I understand," Mr. Darcy nodded.

"But that is wonderful news!" Lord Avery smiled. "I offer you my congratulations and I wish them both happy."

"Thank you," Mr. Darcy smiled. "And what about you? How have you been?"

"I have been wonderful, Darcy," Lord Avery's smile grew crooked and mischevious. "Did you not receive the letters I sent you these years?"

"Your letters were always colorful and entertaining, Avery," Mr. Darcy rolled his eyes. "They were full of news, none of which was ever about you."

"Well, what do you want to know?" Lord Avery shrugged nonchalantly.

"Have you gone to Carlisle yet?" Mr. Darcy asked abruptly. "Have you seen your parents?"

"Ah… good old Darcy!" Lord Avery smiled gravely. "Direct as always. You have not changed at all."

"Neither have you," Mr. Darcy returned. "You are as evasive as ever."

"Evasive?" Lord Avery laughed.

"You have been gone for four years, Avery," Mr. Darcy reminded him. "You were away from your home, your family and your friends. Surely, it cannot have been easy."

"My family did not want me, Darcy," Lord Avery spat and quickly recovered himself. "And believe me, the feeling is mutual."

"You cannot mean that, Avery," Mr. Darcy shook his head. "I know you. You loved your parents dearly. And you loved your siblings."

Lord Avery stood from his chair and walked toward the window, hiding his face from his friend. Mr. Darcy remained quiet, allowing his lordship time to respond.

"Familial love is a strange thing, Darcy," Lord Avery finally spoke. "It is so easily given and so easily taken for granted."

"What happened between you and your family was unfair," Mr. Darcy said with feeling. "I know how you must have felt."

"No, Darcy," Lord Avery shook his head. "You cannot know how I felt. Your father was a man of excellent sense."

"So is yours, Avery," Mr. Darcy insisted. "The Duke is a good man. He is well respected and well loved by his people. But even the best of men make mistakes. He needs your support now more than ever."

"Do you mean now that he has lost his favourite son?"

"Do not do this, Avery," Mr. Darcy said. "Do not punish yourself more than you have already been punished."

Lord Avery looked away once again.

"Why did you not come back to England when Thomas died?" Mr. Darcy asked. "Your parents needed your support then."

"Trust me, Darcy," Lord Avery returned. "My presence would not have been welcomed. My being there would have reminded them of the son they lost."

"Are you never going to reconcile with them?" Mr. Darcy asked. "You are, after all, to be the next Duke of Carlisle."

"I neither want nor need to be the next Duke, Darcy," Lord Avery said. "I have been fortunate in my business abroad. And now I have this estate and my grandfather's title."

"But you are the only remaining heir, Avery," Mr. Darcy pointed out.

"Yes," Lord Avery released a long sigh. "I mourned the death of my nephew as I mourned the death of my brother."

"You two were such close brothers," Mr. Darcy said softly.

"We were," Lord Avery smiled sadly. "Thomas was the best of brothers. I admired him greatly. For years, I wanted to be like him in every way."

"But you were nothing like him, Avery," Mr. Darcy reminded him. "Thomas was a good man, I agree. But he was soft spoken and passive. And you were the exact opposite. You were athletic and strong and full of energy."

"He was a worthy man," his lordship said with a choke in his voice. "He would have been a fair master."

"So are you, Avery," Mr. Darcy said with conviction. "I grant you, Thomas was a well read man. He was the best of his class in Oxford. He was kind and fair. But he was never as intelligent as you are in the ways of the world. You will be a great Duke one day."

"I do not want it," Lord Avery said. "I never wanted any of it. I was happy being the second son. My father adored Thomas. And I was quite content being the second favourite. I wanted my own independence. I wanted to marry the woman I loved and to settle here and raise my family. But now…"

Mr. Darcy stared at his friend for a moment, contemplating on what he had said and what he had not said.

"I am afraid, Avery," Mr. Darcy began as he stood from his seat and walked to stand before his friend, "that we do not always get to live the life we envisioned when we were younger. But I can tell you this from my own experience, that even of it doesn't seem that way at present, the life you get to live is far better than you could have ever envisioned."


	2. Chapter 2

My dear, dear friends,

Please don't be mad at me. I know I promised an epilogue and I know I have not delivered on my promise yet. As many of you know, I am a full-time teacher and this is the last month of the school year and the most difficult time of the year for a teacher. I have not forgotten about the epilogue and I will definitely post it soon. But give me some time to do it justice. It is the end of this trilogy and I want it to be right.

Love you all,

P.


End file.
